Technical Field
The present disclosure relates to a power conversion apparatus that includes a power converter.
Related Art
A power converter is mounted in a vehicle, such as an electric car or a hybrid car. The power converter is an inverter, a converter, or the like. The inverter converts direct-current power to alternating-current power. The converter converts direct-current power to direct-current power of a differing voltage. For example, JP-A-2015-073401 discloses a power conversion apparatus in which an inverter and a converter are housed in a housing that serves as a case.
The power converter, such as an inverter or a converter, includes a heat-generating component, such as a transistor or a reactor, that generates a large amount of heat. Here, the power conversion apparatus is configured such that a coolant (refrigerant) flow passage is formed by a partitioning portion and a base plate of the case. The partitioning portion partitions two power converters. The base plate is in contact with the partitioning portion. In addition, the power conversion apparatus is configured such that the heat-generating component configuring either of the power converters is joined to the base plate. In the present configuration, heat generated by the heat-generating component is transferred to a coolant through the base plate and the partitioning portion, and the heat-generating component is thereby cooled.
In the power conversion apparatus in JP-A-2015-073401, a following configuration can be used to cool both of the two power converters. That is, the heat-generating component of each power converter can be joined to the partitioning portion, the base plate that is contact with the partitioning portion, or the like. When a configuration such as this is used, the occurrence of a phenomenon in which the heat generated by the respective heat-generating components of the power converters interfere with each other through the coolant is preferably suppressed to the greatest possible extent, in order to improve cooling performance of the power converter.